Madam Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to comment on Bill S-14.
This bill seeks to honour two of our greatest prime ministers, Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. It would designate the birthdays of these outstanding Canadians as special days, helping to commemorate their remarkable contributions to the building of our nation.
Before commenting any further on the bill itself, I would like to offer my congratulations to the member of the other place for his initiative in proposing this piece of legislation. Like the hon. member of the other place, I believe we must work constantly and creatively to identify appropriate ways of preserving and celebrating our shared heritage as Canadians.
Only by fully understanding our history and learning about the lives and accomplishments of the women and men who have built Canada, can we know who we are, and fully appreciate what it means to be Canadian.
The intent of this bill is clear. It represents an act of respect and acknowledgement for these two towering figures of Canadian history, one, a Father of Confederation and the first Prime Minister of Canada, and the other, Canada's seventh prime minister, one of our nation's most powerful and articulate advocates for national unity.
I would like to say that Canadians are all familiar with the lives and accomplishments of Sir John A. and Sir Wilfrid. For people in this room today, that is almost certainly true.
However beyond this room in other rooms, other cities and other places across Canada that knowledge may be less widely shared.
Most Canadians know that Sir John A. Macdonald led the effort to make Confederation a reality. He drafted the British North America Act defining the federal system by which the original four provinces were united as one country on July 1, 1967. He became Canada's first prime minister and went on to help forge a strong and vibrant nation. He launched the Intercolonial Railway which would eventually provide a key physical link for Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast in the vast largely unsettled land in between.
What of Sir Wilfrid Laurier? Many Canadians recognize him as an eloquent and staunch promoter of national unity and as the first Canadian of French origin to become prime minister, but how many know that he held the longest unbroken term of office as prime minister from 1896 to 1911, a period during which his unshakeable confidence in Canada fostered unprecedented growth and prosperity for the young country? These are not matters we can take for granted.
As the member from the other place has demonstrated through his proposed bill, if we care about preserving and celebrating the achievements of these great Canadians we must take the initiative to ensure that their contributions to Canada are recognized. What is less clear about the bill, however, is whether by moving at this time to enact it we are taking the most appropriate and effective means to honour these exceptional Canadians.
Setting aside special days celebrating the achievements of great Canadians is a well established and time honoured tradition, but the 21st century offers new opportunities that may be even more effective in engaging the interest and imagination of Canadians.
New technologies and communications modes are providing exciting, new ways to celebrate and educate, opportunities to achieve this same goal.
As more and more Canadians are connected to the World Wide Web, information on virtually every aspect of our society, past and present, has become accessible to citizens, no matter where they live.
If I had a computer with me right now and I initiated a search for information on Sir John A. Macdonald or Sir Wilfrid Laurier, I would have instant access to a combined total of more than 18,000 websites devoted to these great Canadians.
Literally, at my fingertips, I would be able to draw upon an astonishing range of information and visual images. I would be able to review speech texts and quotations, copies of historical and more recent media commentary, academic analysis, and on and on.
The information revolution and the advent of new technologies are making it increasingly possible for Canadians to log on to their history, as well as to the latest stock quote or sports score.
The Government of Canada, in recognizing the value and potential of the Internet, is committed to help Canadians exploit the opportunities being made possible by the Web. This recognition of the increasingly important role and potential of the Internet is at the core of our government-on-line strategy.
Through government online the Government of Canada is committed to becoming by 2004 the government most connected to its citizens. This not only involves more efficient and timely citizen access to government information services. It also means using the Internet and new technologies to offer Canadians greater access to their institutions and their shared history.
Today, by accessing the Canada site on the web, it is possible to take a virtual tour of the Parliament Buildings and the parliamentary precinct, including the offices, parliamentary corridors and House of Commons seats where these two great Canadians did their important work.
The Department of Canadian Heritage is playing a leading role in the government online initiatives, especially with respect to Canadian content. We have an unprecedented opportunity to use the Internet to connect with our past as well as with each other. Strengthening this connection is a goal that we all share.
As the bill recognizes, both Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier were forwardlooking men who saw nation building and unity as the road to Canada's future. Each made profound and lasting contributions to achieving a strong and united Canada. The proposed legislation presents one very tangible means of paying tribute to their legacies and, for this reason alone, I believe the bill to be worthy of support in principle.
At the same time, it must be recognized that enacting the bill would likely generate calls for similar honours to be bestowed on other great Canadians. That is not a simple issue to resolve. At what point do we draw the line in creating recognition days for those who have played a significant role in building our country? What standards and criteria do we set in determining who to honour and, most important, who to leave aside?
In opening the door to demands for specially declared days, we risk diminishing the value and significance of such an honour, the exact opposite of what this bill hopes to achieve.
These are points for careful consideration. The good intent and purpose of this bill are beyond question. What we must not be afraid to question is whether this proposed legislation represents the best way to pay tribute to the great Canadians it is intended to honour.
As I have tried to suggest, there may be other options, such as the application of new technologies and the Internet, that may help achieve the same ends. The decision on which options are best is up to you.